What are your thoughts on card limits in Cafes?

I am on a flight back from Melbourne. The 6.15 to Sydney and the plane is full of around 40 school kids going crazy. Amidst the noise, I am swarmed by business men in crumpled suits, the one on my left, snoring as loud as he possibly can blowing what looks like an over loved Movember with his aggressive nasal breathing technique.

Is it just me, or have you been noticing lately a lot of really bad policy and process being implemented in small business without purpose?

I recently spent 30 minutes in a small cafe on the South Coast. Spent $24 for coffee and a bite to eat and upon paying, the lady informed me they didn’t accept cards for values under $30 (no sign anywhere).

So I politely reminded her that I have just spent $24, surely that suffices her taking my money through a service that they offer. She informed me there was an ATM around 400 meters up the road and she would be more than happy to wait.

I gave her 2 options.

1. Take the payment on card  for the value I had been charged or
2. Watch me walk to the ATM and not return. Ever.

When did saving $0.70cents in fees become more important than inconveniencing a customer? I’m noticing it more and more. Someone offering a service but doing it half baked.

This was a small cafe in a small town with not a lot of competition. The girl working there told me it was a management policy and could not be altered. This raises a further concern. What are our managers doing to our youth? Where is the lesson for the staff to implement great service and initiative?

Doing anything by half by creating barriers to a seamless transaction for the customer is a failure. This cafe has failed.

What is the point. If it to save money, you fail.
If it is to make it easy for the staff, you fail.
If it to grab cash not bank it, you fail.
Offer cards but set a limit, fail.
Answer the phone to a customer and tell them you cant help, fail.
Pass the buck, fail, blame management, fail, do something by half. You fail.

All these things lead to poor customer service that creates poor customer experience. If you are going to offer something, do it properly for the right reasons.

I am interested to see some research into the people “who do not” use the cafe as they only have card versus the costs associated with the card facility.

Do you shy away from Cafes with card limits?

For an example of a place that people love to visit with great design, great communication and service. Drop by the Brooklyn Fare web site.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 11:26 am and is filed under BUSINESS, Research, THE WHITE ROOM and tagged with banking, BUSINESS, cafe, customer service, EVENTS, MARKETING. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.